Monday, May 31, 2004

Free software guru speaks on patents | The Register: "the component ideas in software are very similar to the building blocks of music. In the same way that a scale here and a chord there do not a symphony make, there is more to a word processor than a spell checker and a couple of font definitions."

"most think that buying a larger [LCD] screen with a higher resolution will allow them to see their desktop as larger." the problem is that LCD screens work best at one specific resolution, often large enough so the final result is that everything looks smaller.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Migration in-depth, part 1: Why Health First is dumping MS Office"The biggest problem is going from a closed Microsoft Office platform to an open platform like OpenOffice. For instance, when you have Microsoft Office, the Web browser is integrated with everything in Office, so your standard links and your plug-ins with the Web browser are proprietarily written to look for just Microsoft Office. So, when we are rolling over to OpenOffice, some of the links on the Web pages don't work the RIGHT way because again Microsoft has you locked in. Once you use their browser and their OS, you have to use it their way or no way." So, you start using OpenOffice and end using Linux. That's bad news for Microsoft, isn't it?

"let's say that Longhorn will run comfortably on a 3.0 gHz processor and somewhat uncomfortably on a 2.5 or 2.7.

Businesses don't like to spend money. New computers cost money. Therefore it makes sense to try and make the computers you have work. Using ten year old software simply won't cut, in terms of interoperability and just plain productivity.

The obvious answer to that is linux. With a light window manager and good software it will more than suffice."

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Editorial: Not Everyone Understands the Patent Situation - OSNews.com "Patent transparency on a window, or patent a music player's UI, or patent a menu list that can hold different kind of objects? That's like patenting the fact that "1+1=2" and then you go out like a jerk and ask the poor guys to "pay up or come up with your own ideas and not copy that fact". How do you compete on a system that there is so much idiocy and lack of freedom on basic things?"

Monday, May 17, 2004

Wired News: New Spin on the Music Business: "Artists would first have to register their work with the copyright office, which would track how many times that work was downloaded. Revenue generated from taxes on things like Internet access and the sale of MP3 players would then be used to pay the artists."

TrustedReviews.: "but even the greatest fan of Serial ATA wouldn't claim that the new interface has any performance advantage, so you're paying extra for a slim cable, rather than a clunky old ribbon cable." <

Slyck News - eDonkey/Overnet Rapidly Approaching FastTrack: "As FastTrack sits only 800,000 users ahead of the eDonkey2000/Overnet community, its days as the reigning king of file-sharing are certainly numbered. As the developers of eDoney2000/Overnet continue to refine and improve their network by introducing new technology, FastTrack has remained virtually unchanged since its inception."

Thursday, May 13, 2004

TrustedReviews: replacing pc "I would not spend the amount of money you have on a PC, but would rather spend in the region of £1000 and then save the rest for next year and get another £1000 PC then. Upgrading PCs is rapidly becoming something of the past, as with cost coming down all the time, upgrades are not quite worth it any more."